The Case for “Unscientific Psychology”: Perplexingly Paradoxical

Abstract

Originally published in Contemporary Psychology: APA Review of Books, 1998, Vol 43(4), 277-278. The reviewer states that this book (see record 1996-98947-000) is a striking example of “critical psychology,” that is, a psychology based on postmodern, critical theory. Such theory is grounded in the neo-Marxist view that all knowledge generation is socially constructed rather than objectively discovered, and that it is driven by economic, political, and cultural forces, either pitting those in authority against the disadvantaged and disenfranchised, or empowering the latter in their striving toward social dignity, equity, and justice. In summary, in contrast to its subtitle, this is not a book that effectively sets forth a cultural-performatory approach to understanding human life which can be translated into a specific method of social therapy for alleviating distress and alienation. Rather, the book is a philosophically and historically sophisticated, impressively scholarly, neo-Marxist, deconstructive critique of all of psychology. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2006 APA, all rights reserved)